Dump memorization, embrace innovation, higher education leaders say

That's the syllabus for success from four higher education leaders on a panel I attended at Communities Foundation of Texas.

Moderator Krys Boyd, managing editor of KERA 90.1 midday talk show "Think," asked what higher education needs more of and what it can do without.

"It's time to give up old ways of doing things and be innovative and creative," said Ronald Brown, president of the University of North Texas at Dallas.

Brown is taking that approach at UNT Dallas, after taking the helm in July, less than a month after the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools granted it independent accreditation, giving the institution a separate identity from the University of North Texas in Denton, through which the school was previously accredited.

"Give up rote memorization and focus on creativity," Daniel said. "I don't think we want to try to outcompete China, India and Singapore by having superior memorization capabilities. I think a human creative talent which blossoms throughout this entire ecosystem of education we've been hearing about is the key to our success."

Felix Zamora, president of Mountain View College in the Dallas Community College District, said it's time to give up looking for the "silver bullet" fix to the current situation and look at whole new ways of doing things.

"If you were going to build a new car, you wouldn't start from the same factory," Zamora said. "You'd have to look at the manufacturing process, look at the materials. We've got to get down to the DNA of what we're doing wrong and innovate and look for answers."

David Chard, dean of the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development at Southern Methodist University, said it's time to give up the "industrial complex" of education and focus on entrepreneurship in education.

That, simply put, means figuring what works, whether its an old idea or a new one, he said.

"Innovation isn't always the answer," Chard said. "Sometimes it's just finding what worked and using it again. And in some cases, the entrepreneurship involves innovation."